ProofMEDIA

Author: techology

  • Oh No. Not Another Sales Funnel.

    Funnels are a big deal right? They’re everywhere. An ad leads to a landing page.

    A landing page (may) lead to an optin form (or be the optin form itself). The optin leads to an email sequence (or a direct offer, or a video etc.).

    And so it goes on. There’s probably more optin form (and related) software available than any other type of lead generation software (eg. for every Mailchimp style CRM, there are 30 WordPress optin plugins (at least).

    Everywhere you seem to go online, someone has an ad, or a free newsletter, or ebook, or cheatsheet, or video sequence, or whatever.

    But that’s just the world me and you live in. The internet marketing and related world.

    Out there in mid-level bricks and mortar corporate land, they’re about a decade behind. They’ve only just cottoned on to doing their own lead generation (and that’s only some of them).

    Go down a peg to bricks and mortar small biz, and they’re even further behind. Most of them have no idea what a copywriter is (let alone what we do).

    Which means you need to adapt your messaging to each market according to their awareness level.

    And that last sentence sums up marketing in a nutshell. It makes no difference whether you’re targeting micro, mid-level or the corporate tier, or whether you’re targeting bricks and mortar or online, or whether you’re targeting plumbers or lawyers, every, single, market. Is different.

    And so are the people who run those businesses. Finding the common denominator in a market is our job. Speaking to that common denominator as though they were an individual is our science.

  • Copywriting - The Art of Self-Generating Drug Dispersal

    There’s a secret to attracting people – and it’s one we all know, but rarely see.

    And when we do see it, we tend to scorn it. We say things like “oh, they’re just attention-seeking” – as though it’s some kind of bad.

    And yet if there’s one thing I’ve learned about people, it’s that we (mostly) seek attention.

    There’s a reason. Take business: no attention = nothing. Take relationships: no attention = nothing.

    If there’s one thing we can all do today, it’s to accept that attention-seeking is part of our survival mechanism. It’s something we need to honour (besides, the dopamine rush is more than worth it).

    Think about that when you write your next piece of copy. Self-generating drug dispersal is all part of the Science of Copywriting.

    Oxytocin

    Serotonin

    Endorphins

    Choose the ones you want your copy to activate and write your heart out.

  • The Truth About SEO And What To Do About It

     

    The Truth About SEO – And What To Do About It

    The Problem

    We’ve all heard and read about SEO, and most of us believe we must do it in order to be seen online.

    So we follow the gurus, who tell us to:

    1. Get as many backlinks as we can (from reputable sources of course)
    2. Structure our sites in a special way (to take advantage of internal linking)
    3. Sprinkle keywords throughout our articles to fool the search engines
    4. Follow specific algorithms on keyword density
    5. Use anchor text in special ways
    6. Write a minimum of 500 words, and preferably between 1,000 and 2,000 words
    7. And so on…

    But NONE of this helps the people that matter:

    1. You. Everything you put online creates and cements your reputation.
    2. Your customers and prospects. Do they care about article length, keywords etc?
    3. Search Engines. They exist to serve the searcher (and benefit advertisers and shareholders – none of the above does that)

    When everyone follows BAD advice, it’s a race to the bottom. And it always ends in tears.

    The Solution

    Doing things for the wrong reason is why everything eventually fails. And since the wrong reason for current SEO thinking is to fool search engines, it makes sense that the right reason to do SEO is NOT to fool anyone – and focus on those who really matter.

    Who do we need to benefit?

    1. Our prospects and customers
    2. Ourselves – in terms of reputation
    3. Our stakeholders

    The ONLY way to help our prospects and customers is to give them EXACTLY what they need. Solutions to their questions and problems. That (and making a profit from supplying information and products) is the point of business.

    The ONLY way to develop and grow a good reputation is to produce quality information, quality products, and quality customer service.

    The ONLY way to benefit stakeholders is to give them a sustainable business. Those stakeholders include search engines. If we supply them with content and mechanisms aimed at fooling them into believing we matter, then we deserve everything that comes our way – including being ignored by them.

    The Proof

    A search engine’s purpose is to supply the best possible answer to whatever is searched for. If it fails to do that, another search engine that does it better will replace it.

    Right now, in the West, there is only one search engine that matters, and that is Google with 90% market share (according to the latest figures from Statista – Oct 2018).

    That’s not to say that Bing and Yahoo don’t matter, just that for every page that gets 10 visitors from Google, it only gets 1 view from all the rest combined.

    This makes Google the Gatekeeper of search. And ABC, Google’s holding company needs to make sure it stays that way. If it fails, the advertisers will go elsewhere because the visitors will go elsewhere.

    And there’s only ONE way to ensure it never fails. And that way is to ALWAYS deliver the best possible content – NOT the content with the most backlinks, the highest number of words, the most authoritative website, the best site structure nor any of the other things we’re taught by the SEO gurus that matter.

    Companies rise, fall and disappear all the time. Even the largest of them. Google is no different.

    It may take time, but it will happen if they take their focus away from ONE thing. And that thing is CONTENT.

    To always deliver the best possible answer for the intent of the searcher is the only race in search engine optimisation.

    And unlike traditional so-called SEO, this race is a race to the top.

    How To Do SEO Correctly

    Research. Your first question should be “what are my customers and prospects looking for?” followed by “what do they need help with?” followed by “how do I fit into that?”.

    Answer those three questions and you’ll be able to create a list of topics worthy to write about that won’t waste your (or your prospects and customers) time.

    Next, you need to know what (not who) you are competing with. If you put up the same content as everyone else (which is largely what’s happening right now) you’re asking NOT to be ranked at all.

    So start with the Gatekeeper. They’re the people who choose what pages are worthy of testing, and from those results, they pick which pages to rank.

    As with all plagiarism, it’s no good copying what’s already ranking. Search engines are not stupid for one thing, but more importantly, if you get someone to rewrite what already exists, it doesn’t help your customers, your business, your stakeholders (or your reputation).

    You need to improve it. You need to make it more in-depth than the current top 10, easier to read and understand than anything that currently exists, and more useful as an answer than anything else for the problem it solves.

    And you need to do this more consistently and at a higher rate than any of your competitors if you want to lead – and stay on top of your market.

    OK I Get It. But Is There Any Part Of Traditional SEO I Should Still Use?

    Yes. Meta tags. An article’s Meta Title and Description tags are your advert.

    When a search engine decides to show your page to its audience, it may* choose to use your meta title and description.

    If it does, then you have control over your hook (a hook is how you attract and engage readers).

    However, if your meta title and description do not precisely describe the content of your article, then you run two risks. a) the search engine may decide you’re using clickbait in order to get people to click on your page, and b) readers who do click will be disappointed with your page and will bounce back to the search results and click on someone else’s page instead (which will in time hurt your rankings – for hopefully obvious reasons – search engines will demote pages that either a) no one is clicking on, or b) has a high and deserved bounce rate).

    What To Do Next To Fix Your SEO Problem

    If you’re unsure about how to do any of this, talk to us here at ProofMEDIA. It’s what we do for our clients.

    * Search engines will select part of your text if no meta tags have been defined, but even if they have, they may also choose to ignore them.

  • The Tale Of Og and Pg

    Do you have a todo list? In the past I’ve always found my todo list grew faster than the number of things I could ever possibly do.

    I imagine that’s much the same for everyone – at least that’s what I hear.

    Then one day I realised why – Complete Subservience to the Opportunity God (Og).

    Og does us no favours. Og is ready and waiting for the Procrastination God (Pg).

    As soon as Pg is around, Og shows up and we’re off to the metaphorical races.

    The problem is, the races are not our races, they’re Og’s. And boy does Og know a thing or two about winning races.

    So next time you’ve been struck by the Pg, ignore the Og and create your own race. That way it will be a race to the top and not the bottom.

  • There’s a Problem…

    Ray Dalio started and headed the world’s most successful hedge fund. It’s called Bridgewater. Most people have never heard of it.

    They manage 160 billion dollars of other people’s money and have moved relentlessly in one direction – upwards. That’s over the last 40 years.

    How do you get to be that successful in such a tricky market (hedge funds are notoriously hard to run)?

    You use principles. But not the type you and I use. The type that’s honest and scientific to the core (not made up in our heads and full of self-bias and delusion).

    Ray uses a lens different from the rest of us. We see things through our own eyes. He sees them through the eyes of an observer.

    We come up with questions like “how come they’re doing so well and we aren’t?”. Or “how do I get new clients when I’m just starting out?” (nothing wrong with those questions, it’s how we’re wired).

    Ray asks “what’s the cause of the pain we’re currently feeling?”, followed by “what can we do next that will stop that pain?”, followed by “and how can we measure if it worked or not?”, followed by “and how can we make sure it never happens again?”.

    That’s a different way of looking at life. Try it next time you’re stuck.

  • What’s Wrong With WordPress?

    Why do some people hate or attack WordPress? Here’s my definitive (and I hope objective) guide to why they’re wrong and what you can do to protect your site from becoming another victim they can trot out as an example. Whenever someone gets their WordPress site hacked and asks for help, the top commenters tell them that WordPress is flawed and they should switch platforms as fast as they can.

    Why? First, you need to research the commenters (which is easy, because many have a solution: “WordPress is bad, but I can fix it for you [DM me for a quote]” or “Never use WordPress, it’s deeply flawed, use this instead – [buy my product or use my affiliate link]”). OK.

    I’m being a little cynical, but then I’ve seen enough of these responses so I guess I can be forgiven. In between those ‘buy me instead’ comments are the odd comments from people who do use WordPress and are never hacked. Their advice is to tell you it will be a rogue plugin you bought via some internet marketers get rich quick scam (and it often is).

    There are also many other genuine comments, often wrong through ignorance, which I hope this article will clear up. I’ve pointed to sources where relevant, but everything else is easy to research should you want to. There’s one undeniable fact about WordPress.

    It’s the most used Content Management System (CMS) on the internet (by a long way). According to W3Techs, the latest research shows that 32% of the web is run on WordPress. In terms of CMS platforms, and to give you an idea of just how far ahead that is, the next CMS contender is Joomla, which represents 3% (that’s still massive in terms of total sites, but tiny in comparison to the dominance of WordPress).

    So if one-third of all sites are WordPress powered, it’s no wonder some WordPress sites get hacked. To use an analogy, take a look at another battle: Windows vs Mac. According to Wikipedia, 75% of computer users use Windows and 20% use Mac.

    It’s no surprise Windows is hacked more often – if you’re a pirate, you’re always going to go after the biggest pot of gold. Note: It’s also no surprise that Mac’s are less hacked because since 2001 they’ve been built on a variation of the most secure operating system on the planet – Unix.

    Who Uses WordPress?

    Here’s a brief list of some major sites who use WordPress:

    (my question is, if WordPress was so flawed and easily hacked, why do these organisations still entrust their brand, money, and shareholder goodwill to it?)

    Note: you can verify the technology behind each site on BuiltWith.com

    1. BBC America
    2. Sony Music
    3. MTV News
    4. Playstation Blog
    5. Beyonce
    6. Sweden (yes the country’s global website)
    7. Microsoft News Centre
    8. Walt Disney
    9. Time
    10. Facebook Newsroom
    11. The New York Times (https://www.nytco.com/)
    12. Marks and Spencer for Business
    13. Rotary Club (business portal)
    14. Mozilla
    15. The Rolling Stones

    The list of internationally recognised brands using WordPress is massive, and since it’s trusted by one-third of the entire web, it’s quite obvious there’s going to be many famous people, businesses, global organisations and even sovereign countries who use it without issue, so hopefully you can begin to see the flaw in the argument that there’s something wrong with WordPress. If hacking (or attempts of) is inevitable simply because of its popularity, there are two further questions to answer:

    1. How Do I Stop My WordPress Site From Being Hacked?

    Change your hosting provider to a WordPress friendly one. What does that mean? Many things, but here’s one of them:

    Ask the provider if they use CPanel, and if so, ask if they use a dedicated WordPress installer such as Installatron (which has a CPanel plugin option – Installatron works on Plesk too by the way).

    When using Installatron, make sure you turn on ALL the update and backup options. This will keep your WordPress install, your themes, and all your plugins up to date automatically and do backups for you in the background (by default you’ll get email notifications every time this occurs, but you can turn those off). The type of hosting is not particularly important, shared is fine (which is the cheapest), but your top priority is speed, so choose a provider who talks about speed – and always prefer a hosting provider who offers Solid State Drives (SSD) over standard drives (you’ll know because they’ll push SSD in their marketing).

    At the top end of the market, if you can afford a dedicated managed server, do it. It’s always better than shared (make sure it’s a ‘managed’ server unless you’re a Unix freak or employ one). The other pre-requisite is an SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer).

    This proves to the world that your site is secure and is a green flag for Google and other browser providers (your domain URL will start with HTTPS (as opposed to HTTP) and a padlock will be displayed when people view your site. If you value search engine optimisation (SEO), then this is a must. Most hosting providers now offer this free using the Let’s Encypt service.

    Check first before you sign up. For the WordPress site itself, the Golden Rule is avoid all plugins except essential ones. Especially avoid marketing plugins (or plugins that claim incredulous or ridiculous things).

    The point is, if your words and images are good and your product is strong, you don’t need much else other than a site and a good marketing plan (ie. a way to identify prospects, find them and talk to them).

    What Essential WordPress Plugins Do I Need?

    Hhere’s a list of my must-have WP plugins that are not included in the ProofMEDIA Suite of professional plugins:

    1. Site kit by Google. Dashboard analytics and direct connection to the rest of Google’s analytics tools.
    2. LiteSpeed Cache by LiteSpeed Technologies. This will help speed up your site. There’s plenty of other options, but this is the one I use on most of my sites.
    3. Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan By Wordfence. Does what it says. The free version is fine. Having said that, a decent host will keep you safe by ensuring everything is updated automatically (I use Krystal.ai here in the UK).

    2. What Do I Do If My WordPress Site Has Been Hacked

    Don’t panic. The first port of call is your hosting company. Get them to reinstall from the last successful server backup (pre-attack obviously).

    Ideally this will be a complete reinstall of your server space, not just your site – in case the malware of whoever hacked your site got further than your WP installation. If you’re quite certain it only affected your site and not your server (I have no idea how anyone could be that certain) and you’re sure it wasn’t hacked the last time a back up was made, then you can try reinstalling that backup. Programs like Installatron make this super simple – as I said earlier, make sure your hosting company supports it.

    If you’ve got no backups and your hosting company say they haven’t got any either, then a) change hosting provider, and b) employ a skilled technician to attempt to restore it for you. If it’s only a matter of a few pages, you will find it far cheaper to redo your site from scratch. For that reason, I cannot express often enough how important it is that you create ALL your pages and posts in separate software first, then copy and paste into your WordPress site.

    It’s for that reason I use Google Docs. I get automatic backups of my articles (including revision history) and I know that I can recreate anything with relative ease should a complete disaster happen.

    Summary

    WordPress is everywhere. WordPress is trusted. WordPress is the most supported platform on the internet bar none.

    It gets hacked because:

    a) People forget to update their installation (there’s no excuse for that as it can be automatically updated for free – see above)

    b) People install dodgy plugins not listed on the official WordPress.org website – or they use plugins with bad reviews or few users

    c) It’s the most obvious target for hackers because it’s so popular. To ensure your WordPress site is as secure and fast as possible:

    1. Choose a WordPress friendly hosting company (find out how above)

    2.Only use trusted themes and plugins

    3. Ensure everything is backed up and updated automatically on a regular basis. Do that and you’ll be fine – just like all those trusted global names, organisations and countries that have chosen and relied on WordPress since 2003.

  • Who Are You Writing For?

    Are you left handed or right handed? How does that shape your beliefs?

    Are you male or female, what about that?

    Are you black or white?

    Do you believe other people believe what you believe?

    A right handed Ancient Greek wrote how funny it was that on horseback he could wield his sword like a true warrior with his right hand, yet his apparently useless left hand could steer his horse like a professional (and he pointed out it was true of everyone else he knew too).

    Beliefs are often wrong. To assume otherwise is a mistake. But they’re real.

    And you’ll only convert people if you learn how to change them.

    This is why we search for people who are part of our culture. They’re the low hanging fruit.

    As a copywriter you have a choice. Try to convert people with a different set of beliefs, or only speak to those who already understand your offer.

  • Just Listen Damn It!

    Just Listen, Damn It, Why Acting Like a Doctor Wins Clients

    If you want more clients, act like a doctor. I have said this many times, because it still works. Here is the simple reason, diagnosis comes before prescription. You cannot help anyone until you listen and get the problem in words.

    Why the Doctor Model Works

    • We trust doctors. Most people would rather see a doctor than ask a neighbour for medical advice. Authority and calm curiosity build confidence.
    • Doctors are not seen as money driven. In the UK, they are paid, but they do not feel like they are selling. That removes pressure, which makes honesty easier.
    • Years of training and constant learning. Standards matter, and patients know it. Expertise, plus humility to keep learning, creates credibility.
    • Doctors listen. Even in short appointments, they ask focused questions. They collect facts before they decide what to do.

    The Critical Bit, Listening First

    They do not know what is wrong with you until you say it, in words. That is the job, to surface the real problem and its impact. In business, the same rule applies, no diagnosis, no prescription.

    Diagnosis Before Prescription

    Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice in medicine. It is the same in sales and consulting. Pitching first feels like pressure, while diagnosing first feels like help.

    • Diagnose: Understand goals, symptoms, root causes, constraints, and impact.
    • Prescribe: Recommend options, explain trade offs, set expectations, agree next steps.

    How to Listen Like a Doctor

    1. Set the frame. Start with permission and purpose. For example, “Would it be useful if I ask a few questions first so I can give you the best advice?”
    2. Start broad. “What prompted this now?” “What would success look like three months from today?”
    3. Probe and clarify. “Can you give me an example?” “How often does this happen?” “Who else is affected?”
    4. Quantify impact. “What is this costing in time, revenue, or risk?” “What gets delayed when this flares up?”
    5. Surface constraints. “What has been tried already?” “What could stop this working?” “What is your timeline and budget range?”
    6. Summarize out loud. “Let me check I have this right,” then play back what you heard, and ask, “Did I miss anything?”
    7. Only then, prescribe. Offer options, trade offs, and next steps, not a pushy pitch.

    Quick Comparison, Doctor Style vs Pitch First

    ApproachWhat They DoHow It FeelsTypical Result
    Doctor styleAsks focused questions, listens, summarizes, then advisesSafe, respectful, expertHigh trust, clear fit, easier close
    Pitch firstLeads with features, resumes, and pricePushy, generic, riskyLow trust, price haggling, slow or lost deals
    Interrogation modeFires many questions with no context or empathyTiring, defensiveShallow answers, stalled momentum

    Example, What Listening Looks Like

    Case, The Freelance Designer

    Context: A prospect asked for a website redesign. The designer resisted pitching and asked questions first.

    • Discoveries: Leads were high, conversions were low, mobile load time was poor, and messaging was unclear.
    • Summary back: “You do not have a traffic problem. You have a conversion and clarity problem, worst on mobile.”
    • Prescription: Mobile performance, homepage messaging test, and a simple analytics dashboard with weekly review.
    • Outcome: Won the project at a higher fee, improved conversion by 31 percent in six weeks.

    Questions You Can Use

    Openers

    • What made you reach out now, not three months ago?
    • If this goes well, what changes for you or the team?

    Problem and Impact

    • What is the specific situation that is most painful?
    • How often does it happen, and what does it cost when it does?

    History and Constraints

    • What have you tried so far, and what happened?
    • What would stop this from working, if anything?

    Decision and Logistics

    • Who else needs to be involved, and how do you decide?
    • What is the timeline and budget range that makes sense?

    Close the Loop

    • Let me summarize, tell me what I missed.
    • Would you like me to outline one or two options with pros and cons?

    Small Habits That Improve Listening

    • Silence is a tool. After a hard question, pause for three beats. People fill the silence with useful detail.
    • Mirror and label. Repeat the last few words, or name the emotion you hear. “Sounds frustrating.”
    • Take notes by hand. It shows you care, and it slows you down enough to listen.
    • Signpost. “I have two more questions, then I will give you options.” This avoids interrogation fatigue.

    Common Mistakes To Avoid

    • Pitching too early. You feel productive, they feel sold to.
    • Assuming the problem. Similar symptoms do not mean the same cause.
    • Fishing for budget first. Earn the right by understanding the problem first.
    • Not summarizing. If you cannot play it back, you did not hear it.

    How to Wrap Up Like a Pro

    1. Confirm the diagnosis. “We agree the core issue is X, which causes Y and costs Z.”
    2. Offer options. Good, better, best, with trade offs and timelines.
    3. Gain consent. “Which option fits best, and what do you need to say yes?”
    4. Outline next step.</-li>

    Measure Your Listening

    • Talk time. Aim for the client to speak 60 to 80 percent of the time in discovery.
    • Depth. Count at least three layers of why or how on the core issue.
    • Clarity. Can you write the problem in one sentence, in their words?
    • Follow up. Send a summary email within 24 hours, and check you got it right.

    Before Your Next Prospect Call, A Short Checklist

    • Purpose and agenda set, with permission to ask questions
    • Five starter questions ready, not a script
    • Notebook open, phone silent, camera on if remote
    • Plan to summarize and propose next steps at the end

    The Bottom Line

    If you want more clients, be the professional who listens, then advises. Think questions, not a pitch. Get the problem in words, then prescribe with confidence.

  • The Truth About SEO

     

    Back in 2016 Google announced a whole bunch of stuff, but what caught my attention was not the new “RankBrain” AI they’ve been putting together in the background, it was that backlinking is no longer the be-all-and-end-all of SEO.

    It made so much sense. Why would you rank an article just because it had more backlinks than any other article? That’s no indicator of quality.

    Google have known that ever since SEO began.

    Quality backlinks are no different either. It’s one thing voting for an article, but it’s quite another whether that article answers the problem the searcher is looking to solve.

    And if that article, when found and clicked on, does the searcher no good, then it does Google no good (and its advertisers lose confidence in Google’s ability to bring them QUALITY traffic).

    Google have a single job. Discover and highlight the best content on the web. Do that and advertisers will come in droves.

    Shareholders may or may not understand that, but get it wrong (by relying on unreliable sources such as backlinks) and the traffic goes elsewhere, followed swiftly by the shareholders.

    Which tells us one thing: you either write quality content or you’ll no longer be in the game.

  • Two Days To Go Before…

    It’s the 29th December.

    And so it’s two days to go before… what?

    We’ve all got ‘now’, and we all know what to do with it (more of what you like), and we’ve all got tomorrow – but few of us know what to do with that.

    Most people have no idea what they want – other than to satisfy a need that needs satisfying.

    Most people are brainwashed into thinking that they go to school, get a job, get married, work until they’re 60 ish, retire to somewhere nice and then, what?

    It was a necessary part of the industrial revolution. But just like that revolution, it wasn’t planned, not by the people. Not even by the inventors of mechanisation.

    They did it because they could.

    With the exception of a very tiny group of people who had a dream and wanted to make it happen, the rest of us really don’t care.

    These are the people we, as copywriters, are trying to convert. Can you see the scale of the problem?

    Desire is one thing, but action is quite another.

    Your task as a business owner is to figure that out. What really motivates someone to do something? How can you a) speed it up, b) point them to your product, and c) get them to pay you.

    That’s the focus we should all have if we want to stay in business.

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